Legislation
SECTION 1102
Terms of service report
General Business (GBS) CHAPTER 20, ARTICLE 42
* § 1102. Terms of service report. 1. On a semiannual basis in
accordance with subdivision two of this section, a social media company
shall submit to the attorney general a terms of service report. The
terms of service report shall include, for each social media platform
owned or operated by the company, all of the following:
(a) The current version of the terms of service of the social media
platform.
(b) If a social media company has filed its first report, a complete
and detailed description of any changes to the terms of service since
the previous report.
(c) A statement of whether the current version of the terms of service
defines each of the following categories of content, and, if so, the
definitions of those categories, including any subcategories:
(i) hate speech or racism;
(ii) extremism or radicalization;
(iii) disinformation or misinformation;
(iv) harassment; and/or
(v) foreign political interference.
(d) A detailed description of content moderation practices used by the
social media company for that platform, including, but not limited to,
all of the following:
(i) any existing policies intended to address the categories of
content described in paragraph (c) of this subdivision;
(ii) how automated content moderation systems enforce terms of service
of the social media platform and when these systems involve human
review;
(iii) how the social media company responds to user reports of
violations of the terms of service;
(iv) how the social media company would remove individual pieces of
content, users, or groups that violate the terms of service, or take
broader action against individual users or against groups of users that
violate the terms of service; and
(v) the languages in which the social media platform does not make
terms of service available, but does offer product features, including,
but not limited to, menus and prompts.
(e) (i) Information on content that was flagged by the social media
company as content belonging to any of the categories described in
paragraph (c) of this subdivision, including all of the following:
(A) the total number of flagged items of content;
(B) the total number of actioned items of content;
(C) the total number of actioned items of content that resulted in
action taken by the social media company against the user or group of
users responsible for the content;
(D) the total number of actioned items of content that were removed,
demonetized, or deprioritized by the social media company;
(E) the number of times actioned items of content were viewed or heard
by users;
(F) the number of times actioned items of content were shared, and the
number of users that viewed or heard the content before it was actioned;
and
(G) the number of times users appealed social media company actions
taken on that platform and the number of reversals of social media
company actions on appeal disaggregated by each type of action.
(ii) All information required by subparagraph (i) of this paragraph
shall be disaggregated into the following categories:
(A) the category of content, including any relevant categories
described in paragraph (c) of this subdivision;
(B) the type of content, including, but not limited to, posts,
livestreams, comments, messages, profiles of users, or groups of users;
(C) the type of media of the content, including, but not limited to,
text, images, livestreams, and videos;
(D) how the content was flagged, including, but not limited to,
flagged by company employees or contractors, flagged by artificial
intelligence software, flagged by community moderators, flagged by civil
society partners, and flagged by users; and
(E) how the content was actioned, including, but not limited to,
actioned by company employees or contractors, actioned by artificial
intelligence software, actioned by community moderators, actioned by
civil society partners, and actioned by users.
2. (a) A social media company shall electronically submit a semiannual
terms of service report pursuant to subdivision one of this section,
covering activity within the third and fourth quarters of the preceding
calendar year, to the attorney general no later than April first of each
year, and shall electronically submit a semiannual terms of service
report pursuant to subdivision one of this section, covering activity
within the first and second quarters of the current calendar year, to
the attorney general no later than October first of each year.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subdivision, a social media
company shall electronically submit its first terms of service report
pursuant to subdivision one of this section, covering activity within
the third quarter of two thousand twenty-five, to the attorney general
no later than January first, two thousand twenty-six, and shall
electronically submit its second terms of service report pursuant to
subdivision one of this section, covering activity within the fourth
quarter of two thousand twenty-five, to the attorney general no later
than April first, two thousand twenty-six. A social media platform shall
submit its third report no later than October first, two thousand
twenty-six, in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
3. The attorney general shall make all terms of service reports
submitted pursuant to this section available to the public in a
searchable repository on its official internet website.
* NB Effective June 19, 2025
accordance with subdivision two of this section, a social media company
shall submit to the attorney general a terms of service report. The
terms of service report shall include, for each social media platform
owned or operated by the company, all of the following:
(a) The current version of the terms of service of the social media
platform.
(b) If a social media company has filed its first report, a complete
and detailed description of any changes to the terms of service since
the previous report.
(c) A statement of whether the current version of the terms of service
defines each of the following categories of content, and, if so, the
definitions of those categories, including any subcategories:
(i) hate speech or racism;
(ii) extremism or radicalization;
(iii) disinformation or misinformation;
(iv) harassment; and/or
(v) foreign political interference.
(d) A detailed description of content moderation practices used by the
social media company for that platform, including, but not limited to,
all of the following:
(i) any existing policies intended to address the categories of
content described in paragraph (c) of this subdivision;
(ii) how automated content moderation systems enforce terms of service
of the social media platform and when these systems involve human
review;
(iii) how the social media company responds to user reports of
violations of the terms of service;
(iv) how the social media company would remove individual pieces of
content, users, or groups that violate the terms of service, or take
broader action against individual users or against groups of users that
violate the terms of service; and
(v) the languages in which the social media platform does not make
terms of service available, but does offer product features, including,
but not limited to, menus and prompts.
(e) (i) Information on content that was flagged by the social media
company as content belonging to any of the categories described in
paragraph (c) of this subdivision, including all of the following:
(A) the total number of flagged items of content;
(B) the total number of actioned items of content;
(C) the total number of actioned items of content that resulted in
action taken by the social media company against the user or group of
users responsible for the content;
(D) the total number of actioned items of content that were removed,
demonetized, or deprioritized by the social media company;
(E) the number of times actioned items of content were viewed or heard
by users;
(F) the number of times actioned items of content were shared, and the
number of users that viewed or heard the content before it was actioned;
and
(G) the number of times users appealed social media company actions
taken on that platform and the number of reversals of social media
company actions on appeal disaggregated by each type of action.
(ii) All information required by subparagraph (i) of this paragraph
shall be disaggregated into the following categories:
(A) the category of content, including any relevant categories
described in paragraph (c) of this subdivision;
(B) the type of content, including, but not limited to, posts,
livestreams, comments, messages, profiles of users, or groups of users;
(C) the type of media of the content, including, but not limited to,
text, images, livestreams, and videos;
(D) how the content was flagged, including, but not limited to,
flagged by company employees or contractors, flagged by artificial
intelligence software, flagged by community moderators, flagged by civil
society partners, and flagged by users; and
(E) how the content was actioned, including, but not limited to,
actioned by company employees or contractors, actioned by artificial
intelligence software, actioned by community moderators, actioned by
civil society partners, and actioned by users.
2. (a) A social media company shall electronically submit a semiannual
terms of service report pursuant to subdivision one of this section,
covering activity within the third and fourth quarters of the preceding
calendar year, to the attorney general no later than April first of each
year, and shall electronically submit a semiannual terms of service
report pursuant to subdivision one of this section, covering activity
within the first and second quarters of the current calendar year, to
the attorney general no later than October first of each year.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subdivision, a social media
company shall electronically submit its first terms of service report
pursuant to subdivision one of this section, covering activity within
the third quarter of two thousand twenty-five, to the attorney general
no later than January first, two thousand twenty-six, and shall
electronically submit its second terms of service report pursuant to
subdivision one of this section, covering activity within the fourth
quarter of two thousand twenty-five, to the attorney general no later
than April first, two thousand twenty-six. A social media platform shall
submit its third report no later than October first, two thousand
twenty-six, in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
3. The attorney general shall make all terms of service reports
submitted pursuant to this section available to the public in a
searchable repository on its official internet website.
* NB Effective June 19, 2025